URSA
by iNsAnItY 845
Summary: what if ruby and yang had an older sister ,what if that sister was the reason towards there mothers death . after mysterious events that been happening in the emerald forest , team rwby will have to investigate but what happens when a demon of the past rises again . idea by me / written by jdbl00d
1. Chapter 1

The cold night air blew around her face, her dark violet hair whipping about within the caress of the wind. She opened her eyes, bright silver-white orbs piercing the black daze of the night. She looked down on her hands as the strange sigils glowed with an eerie blackish red glow. She closed her eyes again as she remembered what she had done.

"Scarlett?" Came a voice. Her eyes opened again. She knew she would find her. She always did.

She didn't need to turn, she could already imagine her entire frame, even her face. A look of surprise and shock upon her visage as she spotted her, the huge white cloak whipping about in the wind, one arm outstretched while the other reached for her weapon. Light steps came as she neared, approaching her. Only when the woman was a few feet away did she start to speak.

"You've come to kill me, haven't you?" Scarlett said. Scarlett could imagine the shock on her face for such a dark thought.

The footfalls stopped. The woman spoke once more. "You are to be punished for your crimes against Vale and for cooperation with the White Fang." Scarlett breathed in. She noted the confidence in the woman's voice and how much pain she must have been going through as she said it. She stared at her hands, hands that were stained with the blood of her fellow hunters and huntresses.

"You know, some time ago, I would have been glad." Scarlett said with an unsettling calm, knowing this merely brought more shock into the woman's face. "Dying... that's all I ever wanted. But right now I can't do that, not after what is happening."

"What do you mean?" Came the woman's voice.

Scarlett breathed, fingering her black hair. "They want to kill Ozpin and uncle Qrow, but not before getting their hands on the information of a legendary Grimm. Some kind of strange Ursa Major or something. That's all they said to me." The woman just stood frozen on the spot as Scarlett explained it all. "I was ordered to do it, but I couldn't. I don't know if it's because I'm too weak to do it or too heartless to care about the consequences, but I didn't care, if it meant protecting my family and the people I love, I'd kill a thousand more..."

"Why would they want such information?" The woman asked. "It's just a legend."

"Maybe to most." Scarlett nodded. "But to others its very real...

The woman blinked. _So, you sacrificed your own freedom, your very innocence for others... It was all a trick after all..._

She didn't know why, but a very soft chuckle escaped her lips. She knew what was about to happen next. On cue, Scarlett spun, a very sharp katana now pointed in her direction.

"I'm sorry mom, but now that you're in the way, I need to kill you..." Scarlett said it with a very still tone, but even she couldn't hide the dreadful pain eating away at her very soul. The woman smiled, knowing her daughter's reasons for her recent actions. She walked forward, ignoring the searing pain that pierced her chest along with the katana's blade.

"Wha-?" Scarlett's eyes now went wide as her mother neared her and gave her a hug. Scarlett felt her tight embrace as every drop of blood spilled out from her body. Turning her head as much as she could, she now saw tears falling from her mother's face.

"You've grown so much , you've made me so proud and you continue to do so." Her mother spoke well despite the pain and blood loss. "Scarlett I love you so much and no matter what path you take I will always be there supporting you..." Her voice now started to grow weaker and weaker. Blood pooled on the crisp snow around the two of them.

Scarlett couldn't help but shiver. "Mom..."

"Scarlett promise me something," She said, refusing to let go. "To save the ones you love ,you must do all you can...even if you bleed or cry, remember this promise... I will give my strength, my blood and soul...if I am to die, I must show the light to this dark world. I must tell them , tell my dream and darkest secret..."

"Before all is lost I have one request." She said as she brushed a lock of Scarlett's dark hair out of her face. "My dear daughter... please... fight for your freedom! " She spoke into her daughter's ear as her body went limp.

"Mom!" Scarlett nearly yelled as her mother's body fell back into the snow, the katana slipping out her arms as she collapsed to her knees.

"Take care of your sisters..." Her mother said. "Tell them I love them..." And with that, she passed.

Scarlett gritted her teeth as she bowed her head in painful remorse. Her hands clenched, gripping the blood-stained snow. Something warm splashed on her hand. She opened her eyes and realized that for the first time in fourteen years, she was actually crying. Why? She blinked as sobs continued to rack her body.

"Scarlett?" Came a voice. She turned to see two girls, an eight year old and a six year old standing in the snow. The older had long blonde hair travelling to her waist. The other girl had short red hair and she wore a small red cloak. They stared at her first, and then at the lifeless body beneath.

"M-mom?" Came the smaller girl, tears gathering at her eyes. The snow came hard as Scarlett stared back down, her body still shaking with sobs. The older girl now grabbed the younger one, doing her best to shield her from the cold.

"Scarlett..." She said, rage filling her eyes as more tears streamed down. "Did you..."

Scarlett nodded, doing her best to keep the sorrow and pain out of her voice. "Yes. Hehe... I did..."

"You monster , I swear I'll KILL YOU!" The eight year old yelled as she hugged her little sister protectively.

Scarlett looked amused as she saw the two little girls cry over their mother. "You're pathetic, both of you. You say you want to become huntresses but you couldn't even save your mother. How pitiful." She said as she looked at the two girls with an emotionless face.

"SHE WAS YOUR MOTHER TOO! ALL YOU DID WAS DISHONOR THE NAME OF A HUNTRESS!" She yelled as her eyes turned red and her hair flared like fire. The younger girl stared at her older sister with shock. Scarlett was taken back at the sudden use of the girl's semblance , normally kids activate there semblance at age 10 , this interested her.

"So this is your semblance, just like fathers. It's such a waste that you bare it. A weakling like you would just put it to shame." Scarlett said mockingly.

" I'LL KILL YOU " The girl yelled as she ran towards her.

"YANG! NO! STOP!" Ruby screamed at her sister, but it was too late. Scarlett grabbed Yang's neck and lifted her to make eye contact.

"Listen to me closely you pathetic brats." Scarlett said as she stared into Yang's crimson eyes. "If you truly want to kill me, turn your hatred and sorrow into strength. They are the only emotions in your beings that is able to take control and give you power. Once you harness that power let it take control and use it to destroy all in your path. Then come face your big sister with the exact same hatred. I'll be waiting..."

With that, she threw Yang down into the snow before jumping off the cliff and into the valley below.

Yang merely ran to where she once stood as Ruby crawled closer to her mother's body. "No..." She moaned.

As Scarlett tumbled through the trees, she could already make out the scene, Yang swearing her vengeance while Ruby threw her head back and let out a piercing wail.


	2. Memories

"No!" Ruby yelled as she stood up, only to realize everyone in class was looking at her. She recognized the bearded face of Professor Port, whose current lecture had been oddly interrupted. Yang look at her with a worried look as did the rest of her team.

"Ruby is something wrong?" Professor Port asked as he looked as his youngest student.

"No, no. Everything is A-okay." Ruby laughed awkwardly as she sat back down.

Professor Port frowned, but dismissed Ruby's latest interruption. "Alright then back to what we were discussing..."

Ruby stared blankly at the board Professor Port wrote on. Recently, the nightmares had returned. Ever since fighting off that Nevermore during initiation, her past few night had become nothing but haunting messages. She could still remember those words she said on that cold snowy night.

_You say you want to become huntress but how if you couldn't even save your mother... How pitiful..._

Ruby clenched her hand into a fist. Why? Why had she said that? It made no sense, the things she did, the stuff she said. Everything was just so confusing...

"Ruby! Snap out of it you dolt!" Ruby snapped her head to Weiss, the heiress's voice throwing her back into the here and now.

"Hey, you don't have to yell..." RUby whined.

Weiss regarded Ruby with total and utter disbelief. "We've been calling you name for the past ten minutes! Class has already ended!" Weiss explained as she now gestured to the numerous students leaving the class.

Ruby gulped, realizing her latest blunder. "Hehe... Sorry. I've been daydreaming a lot lately..." She gave a weak smile before reaching up and rubbing the back of her neck. 

"You've been doing that a lot lately. Is something wrong?" Blake asked as she reached out to put a hand on Ruby shoulder but stopped short when the girl flinched.

"Yeah I'm fine... Everything is okay... I'm just really tired." With that, Ruby gave a small yawn. "I just go wash up a little and I'll be fine. Trust me. See you at lunch!" And with that there was a trail of rose petals as Ruby sped off.

Blake and Weiss now looked at each other, dumbfounded. What had happened to Ruby? She wasn't always like this. She usually pain a decent amount of attention in classes and never fell asleep on purpose.

"Hmm she's hiding something..." Weiss frowned. "Yang, what do you think?"

But Yang had her eyes closed and her body shook with barely contained laughter. Blake and Weiss turn to yang with a confused expression.

"Oh man..." Yang giggled. "Your faces are priceless!"

"Haha." Weiss replied dryly. "Very funny Yang."

"Yang aren't you a little concerned over Ruby's behavior lately?" Blake asked the blonde, whose laughing fits seemed to be dying down.

"She's fine " Yang said while trying to catch her breath. "Look if anyone knows Ruby, it's me. Don't worry, she'll come around." Yang answered while giving her teammates a bright smile .

"If you say so." Weiss said while walking out of the room with Blake right behind.

"I hope so too..." Yang sighed .

Ruby splashed some water on her face, rubbing her eyes to shake the sleep from her body.

She blinked the water out of her eyes, finally noticing the small outline of bags under her eyes. If she continued this any longer, she would have more than just bad grades and fuming teachers to worry about.

The door opened and someone else stepped in. She had dark violet hair and eyes of piercing silver white. Strange runes, glowing an eerie black red, ran up her arms.

Ruby turned sharply, getting into a fighting stance. She blinked, now seeing Velvet in the place of that girl. Velvet noticed the aggressive stance Ruby had taken, the millisecond taking to process it seeming like an eternity to the rabbit Faunus.

"R-Ruby?" Velvet blinked. "What are you...?

Ruby blinked again, suddenly straightening up and flushing red. "Velvet! Oh gods, I'm so sorry! I thought you were someone else..."

"H-hey. No worries Ruby." Velvet smiled shyly. "Just... don't do that on a regular basis... It nearly freaked me out."

Velvet now stepped into a cubicle as Ruby blushed with embarrassment. _What the hell Ruby..._ She chided herself. Why was she so jittery? Was it something to do with the recent flashbacks?

"C'mon Ruby Rose." She said to herself. "Pull yourself together." She nodded as she turned toward the door and walked out to find her team.

The Faunus's name was Doyle. He was gifted with the boldness and brawn that was not uncommon in bear Faunus and also gifted with the agility that was the complete opposite in his supposed animalistic nature.

Still, even the most staunch and bloodthirsty of the Faunus _never ever_ wanted to go alone into the secret room right at the lowest section of their base. Doyle was no exception. The room contained one sole inhabitant, the furniture needed for said inhabitant and an air of utter dread and terror, not to mention the gloominess of the darkest night.

Unfortunately for Doyle, no one else was in at the moment and he had to bring the inhabitant food. A very warm and medium-well done Fillet Mignon complete with garden vegetables and potato wedges topped with tomato ketchup.

He licked his lips at the sight of the well prepared meal, but kept himself in check. The last thing he needed was the room's occupant complaining about lack of nourishment.

He approached the iron door, knocking slightly on the metallic surface. "Um..." He started to speak even if he knew the occupant wouldn't answer. Mustering up whatever courage he had left, he finally spoke. "Your food's here. Hope you enjoy..."

Silence. Doyle merely shrugged as he opened the small latch underneath the door and pushed the tray in. As he closed it, he pressed his ear closer to the door's surface. Sure enough, there was the sound of feet shuffling over, reaching for the tray and dragging it along the stony floor. Then, as soon as he heard that, a very loud '_clang'_ sounded on the door, the reverberating sounds hurting his ears along with the vibration of the impact that caused it. Doyle scampered away, holding his ear in the hopes the ringing would subside.

Back within the small room, the occupant ate the meal hastily. It wouldn't be long before she was sent out once again. It would be another few days of nothing but measly scraps and stale bread. Also...

"I wonder, how much have you two grown? And how much do you hate me still?" She said with a slightly sad tone.


	3. Dark reunion

Ruby walked back to her dorm, wanting nothing more than to plop back down into her bed and knock out into the world of sweet blissful sleep. In her sleep deprived mind, she failed to notice the person who had rounded the corner. She bumped into him, the resulting collision sending her falling on her rear.

"Oww..." She groaned as she got up, dusting herself. Looking up, she saw who she had knocked into.

"P-Professor Ozpin!" Ruby shrieked. "Oh goodness, I'm so sorry."

Professor Ozpin shook his head. "There's no need Ruby. I'm perfectly fine." Ruby stared at him. He was holding his signature cane and as usual, a coffee mug that was filled with the usual coffee. Despite the collision, he had somehow contrived to remain spotlessly dignified.

"At any rate..." Ozpin said, his tone taking a slightly more serious path. "Recently, some of your teachers have been giving me feedback about your current behavior in class. It's ah, not very promising."

Ruby dipped her head. "I know. It's just, I've been having a lot of things on my mind recently. I can't explain, but I think something is about to happen. Something big and I might be caught in the centre of the whole thing. And, well, I can only think of some ghosts from my past... I know it's not a good excuse."

Ozpin merely stood, taking in every word. Bringing up the coffee mug, he took a small sip before he spoke at last. "I see. I understand Ruby. But remember, you are the leader of team RWBY. If you are not performing at your absolute best..." He paused, expecting something from her.

Ruby looked up and smiled. "Then what reason do we give them to do the same? Right?"

Ozpin nodded. "And also, remember that they depend greatly on you. You have a huge burden and responsibility Ruby. Remember how to uphold it."

Ozpin now began walking past her. Just as he did however, he leaned in. "We have detected some strange activity in the Emerald Forest as of late. I sent Glynda and Professor Port to investigate, but they've had no luck in finding out what's going on. Would you like to take this assignment?"

Ruby thought for a while before looking up to him. "What are our instructions?"

"Simply observe." He replied. "We need to know what exactly is going right in Beacon's backyard."

"Alright then sir." Ruby nodded. "When do we start?"

"Glynda will be heading out soon. I'd like you to join her." Ozpin said. "And remember Ruby, exercise extreme caution."

Blake scanned the area from the treetops, her cat-like eyes piercing the forest canopy. Since their arrival into the Emerald Forest, not once had they encountered a Grimm of any sort. Although the absence of the monsters was a welcome fact, spending almost an hour in the forest with no sign of Grimm was starting to get rather perplexing.

"Anything from up there Blake?" Called Yang from the forest below. Blake stepped off the branch she stood upon, landing softly on the ground beside her partner.

"Nothing." Blake said. "It is fortunate that we haven't seen a Grimm yet, but I was expecting some sort of attack by now. There isn't even a Nevermore around."

Ruby frowned. "That's weird. There should always be at least one within a hundred miles."

"I don't see why we should be so concerned." Weiss stated. "If Grimm do not wish to bother us, why should we bother with them? It makes no sense to seek out unnecessary conflict."

Blake nodded. "Weiss has a point. Perhaps we are spending too much attention on their absence."

At this, Glynda Goodwitch came walking through the brush. "Come on ladies. We still have a lot of ground to cover." With this, she gestured for the four girls to follow her. As team RWBY proceeded to search the remaining area of the forest, Ruby tripped over something.

"Ms. Rose, I understand that you have been distracted as of late, but try to take care. We wouldn't want you to be eaten by and Ursa now, would we?" Glynda said in monotone.

"Sorry..." Ruby apologized as she got up. Suddenly, her gaze was fixed upon something.

"Ruby?" Weiss frowned, coming over to check on her. Instantly, Weiss froze. "Ruby, what is this?"

At this, the rest of the search team came around. It seemed apparent that Ruby had tripped over a very large paw of an Ursa. It was also apparent that the Ursa was most likely dead since the paw was all that was there.

"Okay." Yang blinked. "Quite the 'Grimm' find Ruby..."

"Thanks Yang." Ruby groaned at her sister's latest pun. "I'm so glad to know that there is something on a Grimm killing spree out here."

"That may explain why we haven't seen one for a while." Blake stated. "If we look around a bit more, maybe we'll find more dead Grimm."

True to Blake's word, a few hundred meters past that point, the group found a whole pack of slain Beowolves, most of which were in several pieces (Weiss had almost thrown up at that point). Next, they found the remains of a trio of Boarbatusks. As they searched more and more, they found more and more dead Grimm, often slain in vicious ways.

"Okay, that's it..." Weiss said, fanning herself with her hands. "I don't know if I can take more of this." She had her back turned to a dead King Taijitu. As they had approached the corpse, Ruby had wisely turned her around to avoid seeing the remains, saying that the body of the large serpent may be a little too much for the heiress. Upon further pestering by the Schnee heiress, Ruby merely had to say that the creature had been sliced in half with the cut parallel to its body. Instantly, Weiss stopped asking.

"Damn..." Yang commented as she stepped between the two halves of the giant Grimm. She stared around, ignoring the fact she was standing in puddles of blood. "What could have been bad enough to do this?"

Glynda studied the incision. "This was done by a blade. But I wonder what sort of weapon could do this to such a Grimm..."

"Wonder who was the person who held that blade." Blake said as she stared at the other head. Weiss hadn't seen it yet, which was good considering the other head was missing the upper jaw.

"You think we'll find out?" Yang asked, stepping out of the Grimm's blood. "We probably would if we kept going..."

"Absolutely not." Glynda said firmly. "I believe it's time to return. We need to give Professor Ozpin our findings. We will return another day with more people so as to cover more ground. Now, let us return."

"About time..." Weiss said with relief. "This isn't something I am prepared for."

As the group stepped away, the sound of a twig snapping was heard. Instantly, the five of them crouched into their battle stances. Ruby cocked Crescent Rose as Weiss drew Myrtenaster. Yang crouched low, arms raised in anticipation of battle while Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud.

"Stay alert..." Glynda cautioned as she stepped forward. Suddenly, a huge net sprung up from below, catching the bespectacled teacher.

"Ms. Goodwitch!" Weiss yelled, startled by the sudden turn of events. As she went forward to help their teacher, three knives, thrown from somewhere in the canopy of the trees flew right at her, sinking into the ground and stopping her in her tracks.

"What the?" Weiss exclaimed. More knives flew out, this time toward Blake. The Faunus spun around, deflecting the bladed projectiles with her own weapons.

"C'mon out you sneak!" Yang roared at the forest in general. "Let me beat the stuffing out of you!" At this, she punched her fists together, her entire form igniting with the blazing silhouette of her Aura.

At this, a voice sounded. "Yang?"

The four girls turned as a shape dropped down from the trees. She wore a dark cloak that obscured a v-neck gray shirt. Tight fitting black pants covered her legs as her boots crunched onto the ground beneath. Upon her back was a very large katana and slung behind her at the hip was a small pistol. But that wasn't the most striking thing.

It was her hair, dark violet that hung in unkempt tresses around her head, flowing about as she straightened up. Her eyes were a sliver-white, appearing to illuminate the very air around her.

Ruby and Yang turned to each other with shock. Weiss and Blake took their stances, wary of the new face that had come into their presence.

"Okay Ruby, what do we do?" Weiss asked. But the girl was no longer paying attention. Instead, Ruby seemed to be staring at the newcomer in a strange trance. Yang now shook with something that Weiss could only describe as unbridled hatred.

The newcomer stared at all four of them before giving a smirk. "Why hello there brats. It's been how many years now?"

Ruby blinked. "Is that you...Scarlett?"


	4. revelation

She huddled down on the ground as the other children threw rocks at her. She dared not lift her head for fear that one would strike her face. She could hear their words, which probably cut deeper and more painful that the rocks themselves.

"C'mon monster! Fight back!"

"She's not a monster! She's a demon!"

More words, more rocks. The monotony of it all never ended. Suddenly, one rock struck her at the side of her head. She cried out, the dizziness accompanied by blinding pain. As she collapsed onto the ground, she could feel the tears welling up. Instead, she held them back, not wanting to show that she was weak.

"SCARLETT!" Came a shrill voice. At once, the children screamed and ran off, leaving her huddled form alone on the ground.

She stayed the way she was as the arms lifted her off the floor, caressing her cheek. Scarlett now looked up to see the face of her mother.

"Come Scarlett." She said, taking a small handkerchief and wiping away the blood on Scarlett's head. Scarlett hissed against the pain, but didn't jerk away from her mother's arms. Her mother than lifted her up and carried her back home.

_**Present Day:**

"Is that you... Scarlett?" Ruby blinked as she beheld the dark haired girl.

"Ruby." She smiled. "My my, look how you've grown. Yang too..."

At this, Yang charged straight at her, eyes turning crimson and her entire frame exploding into fire. She drove a punch right at Scarlett, who caught it with her hand, thought the momentum and force of Yang's attack still pushed her a few meters back.

"Woah..." Scarlett said, her eyes going wide. "Not bad little sis. You've been working out."

"Remember what I said nine years ago?" Yang growled, not backing down.

"That you'll kill me?" Scarlett frowned. "How could I forget?"

"Well, today's that day!" Yang roared as she threw another punch right at her. Scarlett dodged, but now faced a roundhouse kick from Yang.

"Oof!" Scarlett grunted as Yang's kick slammed her to the floor. "Not bad..."

"What's wrong?" Yang yelled. "I thought you were tougher than this!"

Scarlett got up, brushing the dirt off herself. "My Yang, you've really gotten better. Hell, I may go out on a limb here and say you might actually beat me..."

"I don't need to hear a compliment from you, bitch..." Yang spat, getting ready to charge again.

"Firstly Yang," Scarlett breathed as she unsheathed two butterfly knives from her boots. "That wasn't a compliment. Second, I did say _might_, didn't I?"

Now Scarlett charged in, delivering a drop kick at Yang the minute she was in range. Yang parried the blow, crouching to sweep at her legs. Scarlett took the hit, but managed to get her hands under her in time, pushing herself off the floor whilst kicking straight at Yang.

As this went on, Blake and Weiss merely stared at the two. Ruby stood frozen on the spot, shocked by the recent reunion.

"What do we do Ruby?" Weiss asked as Scarlett landed a punch straight at Yang's gut before following with a spinning kick, knocking her away. Ruby didn't reply. Instead she shivered, an action Weiss never thought she'd see.

"Ruby!" Weiss said, coming over and shaking the red-clad girl. "Snap out of it! Yang's in trouble!" To reinforce this, Yang threw a punch at the dark haired girl, who merely blocked it and drove her knee into Yang's face.

Ruby shook the shock out of her system. "Don't fight her head on! She's stronger than she looks! Blake, we have to cover Yang. Weiss, stay alert for an opening!" At this, Ruby and Blake dashed in, intercepting Scarlett.

"Wow..." Scarlett blinked as Ruby swung Crescent Rose at her, the scythe shearing off a small lock of her hair. "Not bad... Did uncle Qrow teach you?"

"Scarlett." Ruby said as she crouched low. "I have tons of questions to ask you, so I won't harm you. But don't expect me to go easy on you still..."

"You won't harm me?" Scarlett frowned. "Are you sure about that? Will you risk all the lives of your teammates just to ask me questions?"

Something flashed at the corner of her eye. Scarlett turned just as Blake rushed at her, delivering a dual bladed strike in her direction. Scarlett quickly discarded the knives, instead drawing the katana and blocking Blake's attack.

"You talk too much." The Faunus said.

"A Faunus?" Scarlett's eyes widened. "Wow, it seems my kid sisters are full of surprises huh?" With a grunt, she pushed Blake away, pulling out the pistol and preparing to fire. Ruby now dashed in with a flutter of rose petals, forcing Scarlett into the defensive again.

"Wow." Scarlett smiled. "Not bad baby sis. But do you really think you guys can beat me?"

Scarlett spun, her entire body a blur, kicking Ruby's legs out from under her and firing at Blake at the same time. The Faunus deflected the blows, charging in again and engaging Scarlett once more with her swords, using her Aura to create clones to distract her. However, Scarlett wasn't fooled, defending against the mad flurry of Blake's attacks. It wasn't before long that she managed to grab Blake's arm, following up with an elbow to Blake's head before lashing out with a spin kick.

As Blake recoiled, Weiss now moved in, sending a flaming streak right at her. Scarlett slashed at the flame, dispersing it whilst spinning to parry an attack from Ruby at the same time. Weiss fired a few energy projectiles at Scarlett, who drew her pistol again and fired, detonating all of the projectiles but not once taking her eyes off Ruby.

"Woah..." Ruby stared. "How did that happen?"

"You think I've been staying still all these years?" Scarlett smirked. "Though honestly, I never thought you guys would be this good. Has that festering hate done you good?"

Ruby flinched at the word. "I never hated you Scarlett. But I just want to know why. Why did you do it all those years ago? Why'd you kill mom?"

Scarlett now dipped her head, and Ruby swore she could see tears glistening in her eyes. "She left me no choice Ruby. I-I had to. I did it for what I had to do..."

"And what did you have to do?" Ruby asked. "Why'd you have to leave? You said it before, you loved us. You'd always take care of us..."

"I did, didn't I?" Scarlett now looked up. "But I had to do something then. And I swore that I'd keep fighting, even if it means those who once loved me will hate me..."

Suddenly, the runes on Scarlett's hands lit up. Ruby barely had time to act before Scarlett shot her palm out and blasted her away with a powerful purple pulse. She turned just as Blake rushed in again, parrying both of the Faunus's weapons with her own. The marks on her leg glowed an eerie red, unleashing a shockwave through the ground that launched the raven-haired girl into the air. Blake twisted to fire at her, but Scarlett shot both weapons out of her hand before jumping up and kicking her in the gut.

Weiss prepared another projectile attack as the Faunus faltered, but Scarlett moved quickly, closing the distance between them before jabbing her fingers into the Schnee's throat. At once, Weiss's entire body went limp and she collapsed to the ground.

"SCARLETT!" Came a voice. She turned to see Yang charging down on her again. This time though, she was too slow to avoid Yang's punch that sent her sprawling across the field.

"Ow..." Scarlett groaned, wiping a slight trickle of blood from her mouth. "Damn Yang, you've gotten real strong..."

Yang punched her fists together. "Duh. I had to become strong for both me and Ruby. What else was I supposed to do when you left?"

Scarlett smiled. "My oh my. I wonder, will it be enough?"

"Scarlett!" Ruby yelled from behind. Scarlett hit the floor instantly, Ruby's form and scythe skimming right over her. She looked up as Ruby joined Yang's side, ready to battle again.

"So all three of us are back together." Scarlett noted as she saw her siblings. "It's really not how I thought it might go..."

"It isn't." Yang frowned quizzically. "Maybe it's because this time, I'm gonna tear you apart."

"Yang, wait!" Ruby said, but her sister had already decided to engage Scarlett in close combat.

Suddenly, a roar sounded from the trees. The three girls turned to see a huge Ursa Major barrel through the trees. It charged right at them, with Ruby being its first target. As she tried to escape, the Ursa swung its paw, batting her aside. Yang and Scarlett both watched as Ruby slammed into a tree and fell to the ground.

"RUBY!" Yang cried as she now turned every ounce of vengeance upon the Ursa, throwing a barrage of bone breaking punches at the massive Grimm. It shrunk back from her blows, but it still held its ground, managing a small swipe that knocked Yang away.

"Why you..." Yang growled as she prepared to charge again. Suddenly, a dark shape flew past her, whipping her hair about madly. She watched as Scarlett rushed in with blinding speed, firing two shots from her pistol into its knee. As the beast collapsed, Scarlett jumped, drawing her sword and plunging it deep into the monster's neck. It flailed about in its death throes and Scarlett finished it off with a few pistol shots to its head before fully decapitating it.

She landed softly on the ground as the beast's head landed some ways away from its body. The Ursa's blood now started to soak the very earth upon which her boots were placed.

Scarlett looked up at Yang, who now appeared too stunned to move. She stood up cocking her head to the right. There was no mistaking it.

"Ugly over here wasn't alone." Scarlett motioned to the dead Grimm. "I'd say it'll be about five minutes before they close in. Hurry up and take the little pipsqueak out of here."

"And let you get away?" Yang growled. "I can't do that, not after I found you after so long..."

"Maybe you could beat me Yang." Scarlett frowned. "But you can't do it in five minutes. Are you willing to risk your life, the life of your teammates and your sister just to kill me? What happened to that whole responsible older sister talk some five minutes ago?"

"Don't lecture me!" Yang roared. But she knew Scarlett was right. No way was she going to win in just five minutes. And with a bunch of Ursa coming, she wouldn't be able to protect her teammates with what was left.

Yang hurriedly rushed to her unconscious partner. "Blake! Get up!"

The Faunus's eyes blinked open. "What? Yang?"

"Get Weiss and cut Ms. Goodwitch loose! I'll take Ruby. We're going to get company really soon, so we need to move now." Yang explained as Scarlett turned to face the oncoming rush.

"What about her?" Blake asked as she got up.

"Another day..." Yang said, grounding her teeth in frustration.

Scarlett didn't need to turn and see what they were doing. She merely walked toward the Grimm that were approaching them.

_If there are this many here, then I must be close. At last, after so long..._

Suddenly, she doubled over, clutching her stomach. Her eyes widened as she threw up, the feeling of nausea still refusing to subside.

_So I'm at the limit already huh? Guess I'll have to continue tomorrow._ She stood up, sword drawn in anticipation of the oncoming slaughter.

"Come here then..." Scarlett smiled, her eyes filled with murder. "I suppose I can play with you guys."

As Blake and Yang hurried back to Beacon with Glynda, they turned as the howls of agony and pain rang through the forest.


	5. truth

"Ruby will be fine." The nurse said. "All she got was a fractured rib, but we have our best doctors on it. She'll be acting like nothing happened soon enough. Though she should consider herself lucky. If she hadn't tried to dodge when she did well, you don't want to know..."

"Thank you." Blake nodded. "We'll be patient. Please do your best." As she walked back to Yang, she couldn't help but notice that the blonde's eyes were still bright crimson.

"Yang, it's been two hours since we got back. Can't you chill out for a bit? You're starting to scare people..." Weiss said, a little unnerved by her. Yang turned, glaring with bright red eyes.

"Like that." Weiss said as she broke eye contact immediately.

"Weiss is right Yang." Blake nodded. "You have to talk about what happened back there."

"I'm not going to. This is a personal problem I need to deal with." Yang huffed. Weiss and Blake stared at each other, knowing fully that Yang was doing her utmost to make sure she didn't blow down a couple of walls around Beacon.

"You know Ruby wouldn't want that." Weiss said sternly. "Besides, it didn't seem that you were the only one who had issues with that woman. Who was she anyway?"

"Butt out princess." Yang growled.

Now Weiss was the one starting to lose her temper. "How dare you! I am your teammate and your sister's partner!"

"Don't try to pretend you know everything Weiss!" Yang yelled back, eyes still glowing red.

"I don't!" Weiss retorted. "But I won't stand by while something happens and only you and Ruby seem to know anything at all about it! We are a team and we solve our problems together! And we won't be solving this problem if Blake and I know nothing!"

Yang frowned. "You don't need to know. None of you!"

Weiss stared, evidently shocked. Blake herself also seemed at a loss for words. She had remained silent the whole time so as to avoid a direct confrontation with her partner (who she'd rather not get into a scuffle with). But even Blake felt the gnawing in her gut. She simply had to know what was going on.

"Yang..." She started but stopped almost immediately as Yang turned her angry gaze at her. Blake breathed, knowing that she might just regret her next words. But regret or no, someone had to beat sense into Yang. "Look, I know this seems to be a personal matter and you'd rather Weiss and I not get involved, but you have to think about Ruby, about all of us. We'll support you anyway we can, but it's pretty hard to do that when we know nothing about what's going on..."

Upon this, Yang appeared to soften slightly, but still remained hostile. "Blake..."

"Goodness, it seems you lot are having quite the discussion." The three of them turned to see Professor Ozpin standing in the hallway.

"Professor Ozpin?" Weiss gasped. "What are you doing here sir?"

"I simply wanted to inquire on Ruby's condition." Ozpin said. "Though it seems it's not Ruby I need to worry about."

Yang's shoulder finally dropped and her eyes returned to their normal lilac shade. Weiss also slackened, unsure of what to say. Blake remained as she was, for there was nothing to say.

"It seems some demons from the past have returned." Ozpin said as he walked past the trio. "But for now, it seems the demons themselves are not the biggest threat there is. At such times, you need to ask yourself, what will you do?"

"People fight for their beliefs, in what they feel is right. In such moments, we stare down death, our courage may wane, our strength dissipates and even the greatest of lights is drowned in shadow. In such moments, what do we do?" Ozpin glanced as the three girls looked back at him.

"I cannot sway you from your choices or stop you from carrying them out." Ozpin said as he walked away. "But I want you to remember, the greatest of strengths isn't from our techniques, our courage or in a day filled with light. It comes from our very hearts and souls. I think you know this best, Yang Xiao Long."

Yang stared as he walked away. Weiss and Blake eyed one another, unsure of what he had just said.

"He's right." Yang nodded. "Our real strength..." She said as she clenched her fist and gingerly placed it over her heart. "It's here..."

"Yang..." Blake smiled as she went over and placed a hand on her shoulder. Weiss didn't say anything, but her smile showed that she concurred.

"Thanks guys." Yang nodded. "I was pretty stupid then."

"Aren't we all?" Blake replied.

Yang nodded. "Okay, I'll explain everything, but I should warn you, I tend to lose my cool when I tell this story..."

Scarlett lay on her bed. It was difficult to imagine herself asleep save for the fact her eyes were still wide open. The whole room was perpetually dark save for the slight trickle of light that poured in from beneath the door. She had just finished dinner, leaving the scraps for whatever poor soul wanted them.

She turned, fingering the small photo underneath her bed. She pulled it out, using the dim glimmer of light to observe the picture on it. She traced the faces of the two sisters and the people she once called family.

_No, I still do, don't I? I'm that stupid after all..._

"Her name is Scarlett." Yang said. "She's my older sister by about six years."

"How come you and Ruby never told us this?" Weiss asked. "I thought you said you were the only two children."

"Yeah, well, let's just say we don't like talking about it." Yang grumbled. "But do you want to hear the whole thing or not?"

Weiss turned to Blake, who nodded. "Please continue Yang."

"Okay. Here's the whole thing. Our mother, Summer Rose, was having a tour in the Schnee Dust company way back when a Faunus broke in to steal some Dust. Maybe your dad told you this Weiss."

"He tells me everything about how Faunus have tried to ruin us in the past." Weiss nodded, folding her arms.

Yang nodded. "Well, I bet he didn't tell you that what that Faunus took was some very special Dust. According to my dad, your grandfather found something, a black Dust crystal that set off a dark Aura. No one knew anything about it, but they ground it into fine Dust and sealed it away for storage."

"What?!" Weiss stared with shock. "My father kept something like that from me?"

Yang shrugged. "Well, it probably wasn't important in his mind. See, the Faunus got caught, but in the process, the single vial carrying all that Dust broke, and all of it landed on my mom. Somehow, it got absorbed by her, and into her unborn child."

"Let me guess, Scarlett?" Blake frowned, putting the pieces together.

"Right." Yang nodded. "She was unlike anything the world had seen. Dark violet hair and silver white eyes, not to mention she had those weird Grimm markings on her hands. Most of the kids thought she was some sort of freak, and they well, let's just say they gave her a hard time."

"That's awful..." Blake said.

"Well, she didn't care." Yang continued. "She continuously trained with my dad, my mom and my uncle Qrow. He taught her how to use a scythe, but it wasn't long before she became professional in almost every single weapon there was."

"She gained her Semblance at 3 years of age, wielded multiple weapons at age four and killed her first Grimm shortly after. She was so good, she graduated from Signal at six years old! Of course, loads of people in our village were scared out of their wits by her, but it seemed she was fine with just our parents' praise."

"Soon enough, she came to Beacon and got mentored by Ozpin himself." Yang continued. "And get this, she was a solo operative."

"No way..." Weiss stared with disbelief. Blake remained silent, not knowing what to say."

"Of course, that was when the White Fang and your father's company started their little war with each other." Yang said. "And roughly around then, I was born..."

**Nine years ago:**

Scarlett walked towards the door of her home. Since the recent conflict between Schnee Dust and the White Fang, she had been constantly worried for her parents. Only recently she was told that her mother had given birth to another child.

As excited as Scarlett was, she didn't skip back home in joy, didn't smile with glee. She kept her pallid, plain face as she strode to the door. The kids all around gave her a wide berth. She didn't care. She knew they hated her and simply let it all slide.

But now as she stood at the door, the only thing between her and her little sister, she couldn't help but wonder, would she hate her too? Would even her own sibling think she was a monster?

She shook her head. No. She had to expect nothing less. The world was a cruel place, she knew. The only thing she could do was show that it didn't faze her the slightest.

She opened the door and saw her mother seated down on the chair. She turned just as Scarlett walked in.

"Scarlett?" She said. "Why are you..."

"I told Ozpin I was quitting Beacon." She said. This startled Summer. Scarlett herself wanted to become a Huntress, and from Ozpin, it seemed she was making progress.

"Why?" She questioned.

"Because I want to look after my sister." Scarlett replied with the emotionless face. "Can I?"

Summer stared for a while, trying to discern what Scarlett had just said. Then, she smiled. "Of course. I think she'll be pretty happy to meet you too."

Scarlett felt her heart leap, but she kept her face in control. She had to expect the worst after all. It all changed the minute she saw the baby.

The baby slept soundly in Summer's arms, but the minute Scarlett came close, she woke. Scarlett stared into those lilac eyes that reflected something she could not explain. Her hair was a bright yellow, resembling a bright flame. The baby lifted her arms to Scarlett, as if wanting to reach out and touch her.

"I think she likes you." Summer smiled. Scarlett looked at her with surprise. Her sister liked her? How was this possible?

"Want to hold her?" Summer asked, holding the baby to her. Scarlett looked at her with utter confusion. How was she supposed to hold a baby?

Not sure of the situation in its entirety, she simply did what her mother did, curling her arms under the infant and holding it close to her body.

Her sister blinked for a bit and Scarlett blinked back. "Um..." Scarlett started. "Hi. I'm Scarlett. What's your name?"

"You're father and I don't know what to name her yet." Summer explained. "But we'll get there, I'm sure."

Scarlett turned as the baby twisted slightly in her arms. She wondered if something was wrong. Then the baby yawned and before Scarlett could react, the infant had fallen asleep.

"Told you she liked you." Summer chuckled. "She only sleeps when she knows she can trust you."

_She trusts me?_ Scarlett stared in wonder. No one had ever trusted her save for her own family and Ozpin. Unsure of what to do next, she merely bounced her arms up and down, like she had seen other people do for babies. Her sister's sleeping form, the bright yellow hair, all of it lit something in her once icy self.

"Yang..." Scarlett said.

"Hm?" Summer looked at her curiously.

"Her name." Scarlett said. "Yang, because she seems to give me a strange warm feeling."

"Yang huh? Sounds like a good name." Summer nodded. "Very well, Yang it is! Yang Xiao Long!"

"Like dad's name?" Scarlett asked.

"Jiang would be happy for that." Summer nodded. "Thank you darling."

"Uh..." Scarlett blinked. "Sure, no problem."

Summer frowned. "You're smiling."

"Huh?"

"After so long, you are smiling." Summer smiled as she said so. Scarlett blinked as she registered her own facial sensations. Her mother was right, she was smiling. She wondered why. Then she looked down at her baby sister and understood.

No matter what, she would be here for her, always...

**Two years later:**

Scarlett walked back home again after gathering some groceries for her parents. Lately, Yang seemed to be getting a heartier appetite and she seemed to be running out of clothes. She truly wondered if she threw up just as much during her infant days.

Apparently, her mother was pregnant again. Scarlett skipped as she remembered the thought. To have been a big sister to Yang was awesome and all, but now she was able to be a big sister to two other sisters!

_It could be a brother..._ The rational side of her thought. _I mean, there are both girls and boys after all..._ Still, she hoped that it'd be a girl.

As she approached her house, she noticed a large number of people gathered around. Scarlett looked at the scene oddly. Why was it that such a commotion was there? She recognized Uncle Qrow standing at the back of the crowd. He turned and saw her, immediately running up to the eight year old.

"Scarlett!" He said. "You mother just had the baby!"

Scarlett felt her hands go limp. "What?"

"It was early! No one expected it!" He said. "There were complications, but it went well! Come on! Let's go see you new sister!"

_Sister?_ Scarlett thought as her uncle brought her into the house, where the doctor was just leaving. As she entered, she saw her mother on the bed, holding a smaller bundle in her hands. Her father stood beside the bed, cradling Yang in his arms.

Scarlett edged in, taking her place beside her mother to get a closer look. This one had hair that was slightly red. Unlike Yang however, she didn't appear as boisterous. Instead, she slept soundly in her mother's arms.

"Say hi to Ruby Scarlett." Summer smiled, showing Scarlett her newest sibling.

Scarlett stared for a while before looking back to her mother. "Ruby? Why'd you pick that name?"

Summer looked to her husband and then back to Scarlett. "Because of her eyes."

As if on cue, Ruby opened her eyes and Scarlett saw that they were of the brightest silver, almost like her very own. Scarlett reached out, extending a palm to stroke the newborn's forehead. Ruby yawned, closing her eyes once more. Scarlett felt a smile break her lips as she stared between Ruby and Yang.

_I'll protect you both._ She said in her heart and mind. _ I swear..._

**6 Years later:**

"Scarlett, why does mommy always leave sometimes?" Ruby asked inquisitively. Scarlett looked at her youngest sister and smiled, stroking back a small lock of her hair.

"You see Ruby, mommy is a Huntress." Scarlett explained.

"Huntress? What's that?" Yang said now.

"You see Yang, Ruby, our world is a dangerous place." Scarlett answered. "It is filled with deadly creatures called Grimm, and they threaten the existence of humanity. Hunters and Huntresses are people responsible in protecting us all from the dangers in this world."

"Wow..." Ruby's eyes gleamed. "So mommy is a superhero?"

Scarlett chuckled. "Not really, but she is a hero. She helps protect those who cannot protect themselves."

"Cool..." Yang smiled as she stared up at the night sky.

"What's a Huntress like?" Ruby asked.

"I bet they're really strong!" Yang said with enthusiasm. "They can smash rocks, move really fast and use all kinds of cool powers!"

"Whoa whoa," Scarlett said in an attempt to calm the girl down. "Yang, relax. That's not what's most important about a Huntress..."

"Huh?" Ruby blinked, confused. "Isn't strength what makes then really powerful?"

"Everyone needs strength Ruby." Scarlett explained. "But Professor Ozpin at Beacon said that a Huntress's true strength comes from the heart and soul."

"Heart and soul?" Yang frowned. "How does that make them strong?"

"Because the heart and soul is where the light in a human being is in." Scarlett answered. "The brighter the light in your hearts, the brighter the path through Darkness shines. Strength can be overcome, power can falter, speed can be outmatched. But if anything, the heart and soul can never be underestimated..."

The two younger girls stared in wonder at their older sister's remark as they turned towards the starlit sky.

**Present day:**

"You must have looked up to her." Weiss said as Yang concluded.

"So what happened?" Blake asked.

Yang's eyes grew hard. "It all changed, when she killed our mother..."


	6. questions

"I've fixed the rib." The doctor explained to them. "She won't be able to do any rigorous activity for a few days, but besides that she'll be fine."

"Thanks doc." Yang smiled. "Can we go in and see her?"

"Of course." He nodded. "But she's been rather unresponsive, so don't expect any long conversations."

"Noted. Thank you." Blake nodded as he let them into the room where Ruby lay.

Their leader lay on a bed in a plain medical gown, her usual clothes lying under the bedside table. Although the gown covered her body well, Weiss could still see the bandages cris-crossing her body.

"Hey guys..." She said, sitting up slowly. "You all okay?"

"Yeah." Yang nodded. "We're fine, just bruises and all."

Ruby's face remained stern. "I mean, besides that..."

Blake noticed it immediately. "You heard us, didn't you?"

Ruby nodded. "It was pretty difficult to ignore the whole argument. But after a while I knocked out as they did the operation. What happened anyways?"

"Ozpin came by and had a chat." Weiss replied. "And then, well, Yang told us. About Scarlett..."

"Yeah." Ruby said. "Had a feeling that would happen. How much has she told you."

"Well, up to the point where..." Weiss continued but received an elbow from Blake. Weiss immediately shut her mouth, knowing all too well she was about to get to the part where Ruby's mother died.

"Up to my mom right?" Ruby finished for her with an unsurprised look. "It's okay. I had a feeling that was an important part of it all."

"Oh. Uh, okay. Just remember if you need anything..." Weiss started but immediately stopped, as she felt it was getting more and more awkward just trying to say.

"What Weiss is trying to say is..." Blake interjected, knowing the Schnee was just having trouble putting it into words. "We're right behind you in the case we go up against Scarlett again."

"Wait!" Ruby said, cringing at the ache in her side as her fixed rib acted up.

"Easy little sis." Yang said. "Doctor said, no rigorous stuff!"

"I'm fine Yang." Ruby said. "But with regards to Scarlett... Next time we face her, I just want to talk okay?"

"Seriously?" Yang said exasperatedly. "You just want to talk?"

"I just can't believe it." Ruby shook her head. "I can't believe she killed mom just like that. There has to be a reason..."

"Ruby, as much as I want to listen to you, Yang pretty much said Scarlett killed your mom." Weiss said. "Besides, from what I've heard from her, Scarlett so happens to also be working for the White Fang. What makes you think she'll just sit still and have a talk with you?"

"Nothing." Ruby said flatly. "But I still have to try. I have to know, I _need_ to know..."

"C'mon Ruby..." Yang sighed. "You know how tough Scarlett is. Her Aura allows her to project concussion fields, not only that she's a lot stronger than me, Pyrrha and Nora combined and a lot faster than you or Blake. We will need an army to take her down."

"Yang, you keep going on about taking her down." Ruby said. "Honestly, I wanted to do that too. But since I enrolled into Beacon, I've been wondering, what if there's something she isn't telling us? Why'd she do what she did? Why'd she kill mom? You know Scarlett loved mom, dad and us more than anything in the world. Until I find out why she did it all, I can't kill her..."

"Ruby, get your facts right, she killed your mother in cold blood!" Weiss said. "And you still want to talk?"

"I just need to know why." Ruby replied as she lay back down on the bed again. "I need to..."

Ruby then closed her eyes, falling asleep from exhaustion.

Yang sighed as she pulled the blanket over her. "Look, I know she has her reasons, but I am not risking another family member to Scarlett. If the time comes, if at anytime I think Ruby is in danger, if I think Scarlett is going to harm her at all, will you guys do as I say?"

Weiss and Blake stared at one another before turning back to Yang and giving a silent nod.

"Now what?" Scarlett asked Fin, a fox Faunus and the current White Fang member to be her, 'owner', as the relative term was defined.

"Is that anyway to talk to me Scarlett?" Fin asked, his snide voice causing a slight flinch of revulsion on Scarlett's face. Scarlett never hated Faunus, but she supposed she could make an exception with Fin, considering everything he put her through.

"Hmm, let's see, actual bodily harm, a prison for my room. I think that warrants this particular attitude." Scarlett snapped, her fingers digging into the top of the wooden table and crunching the wood to pieces.

"Well, I'll figure something out." Fin smiled. "But first things first, what about our big guy? We getting close to finding him? The old boss is starting to get impatient and is starting to demand results from our expeditions."

"I killed a couple of cubs the other day..." Scarlett said, running her hand through her dark hair. "I am quite confident that he will be pretty pissed, and I have a feeling I know where he is."

"Great." Fin smiled. "Now, take Doyle and Birch and scout the whole place again. I am not letting those damn humans show us up on our plans for Vale. That stupid Torchwick and Cinder will soon see that we don't need them to handle our stuff."


	7. answers

"Ruby's missing?" Yang nearly screamed the minute Weiss broke the news.

"No one knows where she is right now." Weiss said, obviously worried and frustrated at the same time. "But I swear to you we will find her. And when we do, I am seriously going to knock her senseless. Sorry Yang, but I'm not scared of you."

"Just calm down, both of you." Blake said. "Right now, let's worry more about finding her. Think, where could she have gone?"

The three of them stared at each other, unsure of what could have forced Ruby to just abandon them in such a manner. Soon enough, they all came to one conclusion.

"Scarlett." Yang frowned. "It has to be..."

"She is still obsessed with finding her?" Weiss snapped, completely flustered.

"Whatever the case, we have to move now." Blake concluded. "If Ruby intends to meet Scarlett again, you can bet she's in the Emerald Forest. We have a lot of ground to cover.

Ruby sat in the tree, staying as still as possible to avoid the numerous Grimm prowling around. However, despite all her precautions, she had yet to notice a single one of the monsters. Still, it meant she was on the right track. Scarlett was still here.

Ruby stretched her arms, jumping down from her tree perch and landing on the soft earth beneath. Now, exactly how would she find Scarlett? She had to admit that she hadn't a clue on how to locate her.

_She seems to be exterminating Grimm though_... Ruby thought. Still, it was pretty difficult to try and impersonate a mindless beast. She frowned as she resumed walking. For now, it didn't seem like her recently healed rib was starting to act up, meaning she could at least hold out against a few Grimm. Scarlett however was a different thing altogether.

_I just have to talk._ Ruby nodded. _Once we do that, I'm sure I'll figure something..._

Just then, an Ursa wandered out of the bushes to her right. Ruby turned to face it just as it looked at her.

"Oh man..." Ruby groaned as it charged down on her. The beast swiped at her, it's claw finding nothing but rose petals. It stared; confused for a moment before it felt a scythe dig into its neck. Ruby fired, the momentum of Crescent Rose decapitating the Grimm before it had a chance to roar.

Ruby landed gracefully just as the monster's head landed on the floor, the rest of its body following suit. She turned and, sure enough, saw another Ursa just close by. It growled, wary about engaging the girl head on. Ruby crouched low, ready to move the second she needed to.

She didn't have to do anything.

A 'swish' came down from the trees, slicing the entire Grimm into half. As the Ursa fell apart, Ruby saw the person she had been waiting for so long.

"Hi Scarlett." Ruby said, putting the scythe away.

"Ruby..." Scarlett answered, sheathing the katana. "What are you doing here?"

Ruby gulped as she moved to speak, knowing all too well Scarlett could run her through at any time. "I just want to talk. About well, about everything."

Scarlett quickly drew her blade and pointed it straight at Ruby. "What makes you think I'm not going to kill you?"

Ruby stared down the tip of the sword. "You won't. I know. I can feel it."

Scarlett eyed Ruby warily. "You feel it? Haha, you're such a fool Ruby. You don't feel whether someone won't kill you or not."

"Maybe I am." Ruby nodded, now casting her gaze at the floor. "But either way, I'm here just to talk. Whether or not you want to is up to you I suppose."

For a while, the two girls stared at one another, unwavering silver eyes into determined silver white ones. Not once did Ruby make a move on Scarlett, keeping her weapon slung behind her. Scarlett on the other hand never made an attempt to inch toward Ruby even though she clearly had the upper hand.

Scarlett's eyes now fell. "Damn it all Ruby, how the hell are you correct?" At this, she dropped her weapon, slumping to the floor. Ruby stared as Scarlett's body suddenly shook with sobs.

"Scarlett?" Ruby inched closer, but Scarlett held up a hand, motioning her to stop.

"You're right..." Scarlett said as the tears fell. "You're right. I would never kill you... I could never kill you, or Yang. You two, you remind me so much of her..."

Ruby trudged slowly toward her older sister, kneeling down and placing on hand on her shoulder. "You guys remind me of mom..." Scarlett continued. "I didn't want to kill her, I never wanted to..."

"I had a feeling it was like that." Ruby said. "She ran your own blade through her body. You didn't do anything..."

Scarlett merely grabbed onto Ruby, burying her face into the younger girl's shoulder. "I would never hurt her. I-I loved mom, and dad, and the two of you..."

"I know." Ruby said. "You said so many years ago didn't you? You'd protect us, no matter what, and I never doubted that whatever happened, you did..."

"So you don't have to feel regret Scarlett." Ruby said as she hugged her. "You're still the same person after all..."

Scarlett now stopped crying, looking up at Ruby's face. "Ruby..."

"You don't have to say you're sorry either. If anything, I know mom believed in you. In us..." Ruby nodded. "And I'm sure she knew that whatever choice you made, you did it to protect us as much as possible. But I'm all grown up now, and so is Yang. You don't have to worry so much about us anymore."

"You don't understand Ruby." Scarlett shook her head. "I did all that to protect you guys because, the White Fang, they want me. They blackmailed me Ruby. If I didn't agree to what they wanted, they were going to kill all of you."

"Like I said." Ruby replied. "I'm all bigger now. You don't have to worry."

"That's not it." Scarlett shook her head. "The White Fang are planning something. I don't know what it is, but it involves a legendary Grimm."

"A legendary Grimm?" Ruby frowned. "What do you mean?"

Scarlett turned her head, as if wondering if someone was listening before she turned to Ruby again. "Listen very carefully. I think the Dust flowing in my body is the key to waking it. No one knows where that Dust mom got hit by came from, but I have a feeling it is connected to the Grimm, a very special one. I have no idea what it is, but the White Fang slob I work for thinks it's very real.

"What is this Grimm?" Ruby asked, confused. Where there still more answers for her to hear?

"He believes its some kind of Ursa, but nothing like we've seen before." Scarlett whispered. "If something like that wakes up, Beacon is going to be in danger, you understand? I have to find it and kill it before it is too late."

"But Scarlett..." Ruby said, getting more and more confused. "If it is meant to be a legend, what makes you think it's real?"

"I just feel it." Scarlett said. "Okay?"

Ruby stared into her eyes. A strong determination was in them that made Ruby realize that no matter what, Scarlett believed in it. If she did, then whatever she said was right, and that something worse was on its way.

"Alright." Ruby nodded at her. "What can I do to help?"

"For starters, you two can take a nap..." Scarlett and Ruby turned to see a bear and goat Faunus overlooking the two of them with mean looking clubs in their hands. Before Ruby could react, Scarlett pulled out her sword, slicing apart their weapons before blasting them away with a powerful shockwave.

"Go!" Scarlett said to her as she got to her feet. "Get out of here and get back to Beacon! Let Ozpin know!"

Ruby nodded as they ran in opposite directions, Scarlett running off to handle the White Fang grunts whilst Ruby ran in the direction of Beacon. She had to get back to Yang and the rest and let them know.

Something sharp struck her in the shoulder, causing her to lose balance and fall. Ruby reached behind and pulled out a strange dart. Within it was what remained of a colorless liquid.

Ruby stared just as her vision blurred. "Scarlett..." She whimpered before the blackness took over.


	8. retaliation

Yang stomped through the forest, obviously annoyed at the lack of luck in finding Ruby's whereabouts. She grumbled and groaned as she pushed through the undergrowth, ready to tussle the minute she saw the red-cloaked younger sister of hers.

"Ruby has pulled crazy stunts before, but this time, I swear I am going to punch her lights out." Yang fumed. "Where does she get off just running away from me like that?"

"No kidding." Weiss nodded. "Though if you do that, at least leave all her teeth in. I don't want everyone thinking we've gone and rebelled against our leader."

"Technically, I think the proper term is that she rebelled against us..." Blake said. "But yes, we wouldn't want that right?"

The trio merely kept walking, though after a while, Weiss perked her head up. "Hey, anyone get the feeling there are less Grimm than before?"

"Well, that might mean we are on the right track..." Blake said. "If Grimm are missing, then Scarlett mustn't be far."

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the ground, causing all three of them to stumble. Yang caught herself with her hand, looking up to see the source of the commotion.

Something blew through the trees and landed right in front of the trio, causing Weiss to let out a startled scream. Yang and Blake blinked at the unconscious goat Faunus that had crashed in their immediate vicinity.

"What the hell?" Yang blurted out as more explosions sounded in the distance. The three of them drew their weapons, tensing up in anticipation of a battle.

"That guy is Birch..." Blake said. "He's a member of the White Fang..."

"What are those Faunus doing in the forest?" Weiss frowned, scanning the bushes for any sign of activity.

"We'll worry about that later!" Yang yelled over the commotion. "Right now, we need to be ready for anything!" The minute she finished, two more shapes burst out of the trees. She turned to see Scarlett engaged in close combat with a bear Faunus this time. He swiped at her and she ducked instantly, his clawed hand scraping a thick tree. As he readied another attack, Scarlett dashed in, delivering a palm strike to his jaw before giving him another in his gut. He flew a few meters away, landed in mud and didn't move after.

"SCARLETT!" Yang roared, charging down on her. Scarlett barely registered her voice before the blonde's fist collided with her face.

"Arghh!" She screamed as Yang's punch smashed her through a few trees. As she recovered, Yang dove on top of her, pinning her to the floor and punching her repeatedly.

"Where. Is. Ruby?" Yang yelled, punctuating each word with a fist, every punch rocking the older girl's vision each time.

Scarlett finally grabbed hold of Yang's hand, stopping the vicious attacks. "Seriously Yang, now isn't the time!"

"That's not for you to decide!" Yang said fiercely as she drove the other fist down. Scarlett, anticipating the strike, twisted so that Yang's fist connected with dirt. Tucking her legs in, she pushed out, launching Yang high above her.

She drew her katana as Blake charged in, firing Gambol Shroud at her weapon. The chain scythe wrapping around the katana. Scarlett held her grip firm as Blake attempted to pull her weapon away. Still, Blake had underestimated her strength, using two hands in the tug-of-war battle despite Scarlett's need for just one.

"You really think you can stop me like that?" Scarlett frowned. "Please don't insult me. Only Yang and Ruby are allowed that pleasure..."

"You really think I could?" Blake replied, glancing above her. Scarlett looked up to see Weiss firing a barrage down upon her. Scarlett drew her pistol, intent upon blasting them away, however, Yang now ran in, knocking the gun out of her hand as she drew it before flipping out of the way. Seeing no other choice, Scarlett relinquished the katana and flipped away just as Weiss's attack landed.

Scarlett huffed as she faced the trio. However, now she was completely weaponless and fast running out of options.

"I'm taking you back to Beacon." Yang said as she punched her fists together, her Semblance exploding into flame around her. "And then I'm going to beat you senseless after that."

"Yang..." Scarlett tried to speak but Yang finally rushed her down, throwing a series of bone-breaking punches at her.

"You wanna know something?" Yang said over the clamor of the battle. "I really thought you cared for us! Me, Ruby, mom! It didn't matter what the other kids said, you were my sister! My loving older sister and I knew that's what you'll always be. At least, that's what I thought..."

"Yang..." Scarlett grunted against the strain of blocking Yang's attacks.

"But I was wrong!" Yang roared, eyes flaring red. "You were just what they said you were! A monster! A freak! An inhuman..."

"SHUT UP!" Scarlett screamed, blasting a powerful wave of energy at her. She didn't have time to register the surprise on Yang's face as the blonde was blasted into a nearby tree. Scarlett huffed, her fingers curling into what could be described as sharpened claws as the runes on her body lit up with an eerie red glow.

Blake charged in, with Weiss preparing another flurry of projectiles. However, as the Faunus charged, Scarlett suddenly vanished.

"What?" She blinked just as she heard someone cry out. She turned and saw Scarlett bearing down on Weiss, catching the blade of Myrtenaster as if it were nothing before kicking her in the gut, the shockwave generated hurling her into a few bushes. Scarlett then turned to Blake. Quicker than a blink, Blake dove in, but Scarlett merely raised her hand and Blake bounced off an invisible wall and crashed into a rock.

Yang groaned as she picked herself off the floor, panting as she recovered. Suddenly, a very strong arm grabbed her by her jacket and lifted her off the floor. She stared into Scarlett's eyes with all the anger she could muster.

"Go ahead..." Yang gasped from the pain. "Go ahead and kill..."

"YOU THINK I WANTED THIS?!" Scarlett screamed at her. "YOU THINK I HAD A CHOICE?" Yang stopped and stared at her incredulously. In the background, Weiss and Blake had also recovered, but stopped short at Scarlett's words.

"I didn't." Scarlett now dipped her head, her eyes staring at the ground. "I didn't want this, but I couldn't say no either..."

Yang frowned at the girl's words, shock coming over her features as Scarlett's tears now dripped to the floor. "You know I loved mom. And you, and Ruby. You know I'd do anything to protect all of you. I said that before didn't I? I-I never would have killed her..."

Yang blinked. "Then why?"

"I didn't want to..." Scarlett sobbed. "That night, I wanted to run to mom for help. I wanted her to be the one to kill me then. I thought that would be the best way to end it all. The White Fang would lose an important piece of their plans, and I'd be free forever. But then..."

"She told me..." Scarlett continued, this time looking up at Yang. "To do everything I could for those I loved. To fight for my own freedom. Before she ran herself through my blade..."

Yang, Weiss and Blake merely stared as Scarlett confessed everything. Even Yang didn't know what was going on anymore. "Mom, killed herself?"

"Of course you idiot!" Scarlett screamed. "Do you really think I would have turned a blade upon my own mother? I'd rather have died instead! But I couldn't, because I knew that mom had entrusted you two to me..."

Silence filled the clearing save for Scarlett's crying. Blake and Weiss now put their weapons away as they realized the fighting had stopped. Yang however, still regarded her with suspicion. "What makes you think I actually believe you?"

"You don't have to you stupid fool..." Scarlett growled. "But if anything, you'll believe Ruby."

"Ruby?" Yang blinked with shock. "Where is she?"

"I sent her back to Beacon." Scarlett said. "She's got something important to tell Ozpin about the White Fang's presence here. And you guys have to hurry back. She needs you now more than ever..."

"Oh? You mean this little scrap?"

Everyone turned to see a fox Faunus surrounded by over fifty White Fang grunts. In the fox Faunus's hands was a limp Ruby Rose.

Scarlett dropped Yang on the ground. "No..."

"Tut tut Scarlett." The fox Faunus shook his head. "I thought a pet knew better than to disobey its owner? It seems a little lesson in discipline is in order." At this, he pulled out a knife and advanced on Ruby.

"Wait! Don't!" Scarlett pleaded, but he merely walked over to the unconscious girl.

"Since you seem to have quite the attraction to this one..." He said, pressing the knife to Ruby's throat. "I think her death will be a good lesson to remind what happens when you cross me..."

"NOOOO!" Scarlett screamed, launching herself right at him and driving him to the ground. As he struggled to stand, Scarlett's fist repeatedly slammed into his face. It was about three punches after which the White Fang grunts around her finally pulled her off him. Still, she fought back as much as possible. Then, she doubled over, coughing all the while.

"About time..." He said, wiping his blood off his face. "It wasn't an easy task you know? Poisoning you everyday with your meals, not enough to kill you, but enough to cause indescribable amounts of pain known so long as you didn't have the antidote. I mean, it was the only way to keep you in check. Or so I figured. Then your little runt of a sister just had to butt her way in." At this, he lashed out at Scarlett and she cried out, spitting out blood.

"Too bad..." He moaned. "I really enjoyed our talks..." Once more, he put the knife to Ruby's throat.

"Fin...Stop..." Scarlett groaned. "Please... I'll do whatever you say, just don't do anything to her... Please..."

The Faunus-Fin, looked at her. "Sorry little mutt. What kind of owner am I if I don't discipline my pet?"

"You kill her..." Scarlett growled. "Then I bite my tongue off. That way, we both lose. You need your pet Fin, remember?"

Fin blinked as the reality hit home. Sure enough, he could probably stop her from committing suicide, but then again he wasn't so confident now. "Fine. Your sister lives. But in exchange, you will lead me to our friend's hiding place. Right now."

"I will." Scarlett nodded. "Just don't hurt her..."

"Alright then." Fin nodded. "That's a good little girl."

"You lot..." He said, gesturing to some of the Faunus. "Tie the rest of them up and bring them with us. I have had enough of these little brats from Beacon ruining all our shit."

The group moved forward with handcuffs. Scarlett watched as Yang did her best to resist with no chance of success. She noticed Fin come over to her, clamping a collar round her neck.

"Never thought I'd need this, but it's always good to have a leash, yeah?" Scarlett frowned as he moved away. "Anything funny, and you'll get worse pain than what that poison is doing to you now."

Scarlett dipped her head as Yang was brought beside her. "Yang... I'm sorry..."

She turned to see Yang's lilac eyes staring back. "Me too." The blonde answered.

"Alright! Chop chop! We haven't all day!" Fin bellowed.

Ruby stirred, registering the rocking motions of a very poorly controlled plane ride and the sharp sensation of something jabbing her in the gut. She opened her eyes and immediately jumped, finding that she now stared at the floor.

"Keep still!" Came a voice. Ruby turned her head to see a gruff looking dog Faunus carrying her over his shoulder. She turned her head back and now saw Yang, Weiss and Blake being led by other White Fang Faunus through the forest.

"Hold up!" Came a snide voice. Ruby felt herself get lifted up and thrown-painfully-onto the floor.

"Ouch!" She moaned. Trying to sit up, she realized that her hands were cuffed and her weapon in the hands of another Faunus. She then turned to see Scarlett doubled over. Every now and then, she would cough up blood whilst the other Faunus merely observed.

"Ruby..." Yang whispered over to her, motioning for her to come close. Ruby slowly made her way to her sister, wondering if the White Fang guards were going to bar them either way.

"You were right..." Yang said. "Scarlett, she's just as much of a victim as mom was..."

Ruby turned as Scarlett stood once again, though she did so shakily and with great effort. "What's wrong with her?"

"Fin." Blake said, gesturing to the fox Faunus that led the group. "He poisons her everyday apparently, but he definitely has the antidote."

"Anything we ought to know about him?" Weiss asked.

"He isn't much of a fighter." Blake whispered. "But he is pretty influential and can worm his way out of loads of problems. And he's smart. He probably has a plan for when we escape."

"Great. No surprising this guy then." Ruby grumbled softly, turning away the minute a guard came over.

"On your feet!" He bellowed. "Time to move."

_Guess we'll play along for now_. Ruby thought to herself as she got up and trudged down the path the whole company walked on. Still, her mind raced on other things. What about that legendary Grimm these guys were interested in? Was that where they were headed now? Ruby needed to see what it was to be sure on how to deal with it.

Soon enough, they whole party made it to a strange cave that glowed with small bits of Dust crystals. Weiss almost paled the minute Fin motioned for them to enter.

"Just a second!" She called out to him from her place in the whole line. "If we intend to go in there, might I suggest some safety precautions?"

"Someone shut her up..." Fin said, obviously annoyed.

"Um, Fin, sir? We go in there and make so much as a sneeze, the whole place could blow on us." Weiss said. "That doesn't sound very beneficial for you and your operation, am I right?"

Fin stared at her. True, he didn't want to risk his skin by stepping into a Dust mine that was obviously volatile. "Fine." He grumbled, disliking the fact that his prisoners are getting one up on him. "What is your recommendation then?"

"Take as few people as possible." Weiss said. "Make sure they all wear masks or anything that will prevent stray Dust from entering their nasal tracts. You have masks right?"

Fin ordered his battalion to turn out their inventories, which yielded only ten masks. After selecting eight others to follow him, he motioned for Scarlett to move. "But a single slip from you and the four girls get it, clear?" He threatened her as they entered. Scarlett merely gave him a cold stare before nodding, leading him into the cave.

"Now what?" Yang whispered to the rest of them. Sure, maybe they were down about eight extra annoyances. Together, they could definitely take them on, but still, their hands were cuffed.

Blake eyed one the Faunus holding her weapon. It was obvious he hadn't gotten sleep in a while based on how he was yawning. Definitely overworked by Fin no doubt.

Blake suddenly started squirming, and that managed to get the attention of sleepyhead.

"What's going on?" He said, ending it with a yawn.

"Bug..." Blake squirmed. "Down my back..."

"Uh..." The Faunus scratched his head, unsure of what to do.

"Well?" Blake said exasperatedly. "Help me get it out!"

"Um, I can't undo your handcuffs..." He said.

Blake groaned inwardly. Were some of the White Fang really this daft? "You don't have to. Just reach down my back and get it out..."

"Oh! Uh, right. I'll just do that..." He said.

As he reached over, Blake gave him a forceful kick in the gut. Though the Faunus may have been able to withstand it, his sleepiness worked enough to get him dazed for just a split second. In that split second, Blake leapt off the ground, rolling forward.

The roll allowed Blake to tuck her legs in, squeezing them through her bound hands so that now, even if she were cuffed, at least her hands were in front of her. Activating her semblance, she confused the guards with numerous shadow clones. Amidst the confusion, she grabbed Gambol Shroud, flipping away to cut Yang's binds.

"Now that's what I'm talking about..." Yang grinned.


	9. rude awakening

"So how much farther?" Fin asked, glancing at his soiled shoes for the umpteenth time.

"Be patient..." Scarlett groaned, the burning pain in her gut getting worse by the second. Even without the antidote, she was still able to keep herself standing, though being able to fight was out of the question.

Scarlett traced the smooth wall of the cave, which felt unnaturally warm to the touch. As she did, the marks on her hands glowed an eerie red. "He's here." She nodded. "I can feel it..."

Fin's eyebrows raised up and a look of anticipation crossed his face. As Scarlett continued walking, the marks on her body suddenly got brighter and brighter. Though it kept it well hidden, he could help but feel a tingling excitement fluttering in his chest.

Soon enough, Scarlett held up her hand. Fin looked around, his natural night vision acclimatizing him to the pitch black darkness. What he saw shocked him just as much as it did Scarlett.

There it was, lying just a ways in the cavern. It's huge body heaved up and down as it snored, the red marks on the bony plate over its face glowed with the same eerie red as Scarlett's own. Purple crystals protruded out of its back, glowing with a strange violet light. As it snored, a hot air gushed over the small group.

"I don't believe it..." Fin's eyes gleamed. "The Dark Ursa. It really existed after all..."

"You had doubts?" Scarlett raised an eyebrow in question. "How in the world did you convince me?" This earned her a backhand from the fox Faunus that drove her to the ground.

"Now listen here you ungrateful mutt..." Fin snarled, his heel digging into her back. "I'm the one who gave you a home, food and at least the satisfaction of taking out people that didn't sit right with our plans."

"You mean a prison cell, poisoned meals and murder?" Scarlett retorted. "Wow, that sounds like a slice of heaven here."

"Well, now at least I have the pleasure of lifting all that responsibility off my shoulders for good." Fin explained. "Now then, let's get it over with." Fin motioned to one of his lackeys behind, who handed him a small knife.

"Based on what I have been researching, the Dust swimming around in your blood has quite a lot of properties, one of which is an incredible ability to resuscitate or even regenerate dead tissue." Fin said as he pressed the knife to the back of her neck. "Thing is, I'll need a hell load of it to actually make this guy work. So, I suppose this is goodbye Scarlett. You've been a good pet and all, but work is work after all..."

Scarlett dipped her head in defeat. Hands bound, unable to fight, she believed all she could do now was wait for the inevitable.

_Maybe I should have just killed myself then..._ She thought bitterly, her mind flashing back to the snowy hilltop. _Then, all this wouldn't have happened. Mom wouldn't have died, Yang and Ruby would have never hated me._

_So why?_ She questioned herself as tears flowed down freely. _Why couldn't I just have killed myself then?_

She felt the blade touch her neck, the metal more cold and unforgiving than the rocks people used to hurl at her, the hurtful words thrown her way, their fearful gazes and whispers. She wanted to let go of it all, let it disappear into the void.

"YOU IDIOT!" Came a screech. Everyone turned to see Yang charging down upon the whole group, barreling through everyone in her way.

The eight Faunus tried to block her path, but if anything, there was not a very effective way of preserving yourself against an all-out wild rush from the blonde girl. Close behind her, Ruby, Weiss and Blake followed. Instantly, Blake directed herself at Fin, engaging him in close quarters immediately.

"Ruby?" Scarlett frowned as the girl came over and undid her collar. "What are you..." Scarlett couldn't finish before Ruby's palm struck her face.

"What the hell?" Scarlett screamed. "What was that for!?"

"For giving up like that!" Ruby pouted as Weiss did battle with another Faunus. Scarlett blinked, stunned at what the younger girl had just said.

"Mom told you didn't she?" Ruby growled. "She told you to do everything you can! So what on Remnant are you doing just throwing everything you worked for away like that?" Scarlett didn't know how to answer. She just stared at Ruby while the battle raged around her.

"So stand up Scarlett." Ruby said firmly. "Stand up and fight, with me, with us." At this, Ruby stretched out her hand.

Scarlett stared at it and then back into Ruby's eyes again. Then, she chuckled.

"You really remind me too much of her you know?" She said as she grabbed Ruby's arm. Ruby smiled as she turned to face two of the White Fang grunts that had approached.

Fin parried Blake's strike with his short sword, but still he grunted as he her shadow clones disrupted the momentum of his attacks, leaving him disorientated and confused to the location of his true target.

Finally, he swung out, locking his blade with hers. "Hi Blake. Never thought I'd see you again after so long..."

"I doubt the feeling is mutual Fin." Blake frowned.

"So, exactly how'd you get past by goons? Pretty sure they had you handcuffed." Fin snarled as he pushed her back. In return, Blake pushed even harder.

"A word of advice Fin." Blake said. "People tend to do worse when they lack sleep. I should know with all the experience on all nighters."

Fin backed off as Blake slashed out again, flipping backwards and raising his sword to block her next strike. He lashed out with his hand, catching nothing but an illusion as Blake struck him in the back.

Fin turned to see Blake toss something toward Scarlett and Ruby. His eyes widened the minute he noticed it was the antidote for Scarlett's condition. He rushed in, attempting to stop her. However, Blake gave him a kick in the gut, knocking him back into Yang, who now grabbed him and threw him effortlessly over her shoulder.

Fin coughed as he got up, now beholding the four girls and a very pissed off Scarlett.

"S-Scarlett..." He said, retreating slowly.

"Get this to your boss Fin." Scarlett snarled, cracking her knuckles. "I am no one's pet anymore." Instantly, she picked him up and gave him a vicious right hook across his face. He cried out as he was flung into the wall.

"Nice." Yang grinned as she beat down the last Faunus.

"Heh. You too..." Scarlett grinned before turning back to the massive Grimm. "Now, we need to deal with this guy.

Team RWBY turned to see the massive 'Dark Ursa' as Fin had called it. "Woah. It's big..." Ruby gulped.

"It could flatten Beacon instantly..." Weiss noted. "It already is nearly half the size of the main campus building..."

"Any ideas?" Blake asked.

"Maybe we can blow the whole mine on it?" Yang offered. "I mean, even he's got to feel something that big right?"

"It could work..." Scarlett nodded. "But we'll need more than that to kill it. Why don't we go and report this to Ozpin first? He'll know what to do."

"Good idea." Ruby nodded, turning to the exit. That was when she saw Fin readying a grenade.

"Stop!" Ruby yelled. "Are you insane?"

"Maybe?" Fin half-laughed, half-groaned as he flicked the pin off.

"RUN!" Weiss screamed. The five of them scrambled for the exit just as Fin dropped the explosive. They barely made it just as the first explosions sounded.

"Hang on!" Scarlett said from behind as her hand glowed, launching a shockwave that propelled them all to the entrance.

"Whoa!" The four of them exclaimed as they flew out of the cave at breakneck speed and landing in the dirt.

"Scarlett..." Ruby panted as the Dust within the mine exploded. "Give us a warning next time, okay?"

"Sorry..." She chuckled. "I had to think fast."

As they got up, a guttural roar sounded from the ruin of the cave. The five girls looked as the very ground cracked beneath them and a large paw burst out of the ground.

"Oh hell..." Ruby gulped.


	10. thus kindly i scatter

"Get out of here! NOW!" Ruby yelled to the whole group as the earth split apart.

"God, how big is this guy?" Yang yelled over the commotion. It appeared that the entire forest was being stirred up as the colossal creature woke from the depths of the underground.

Yang's question was answered momentarily as the monstrous creature's head finally burst forth. It was already large enough to cover the whole of Beacon's main avenue and almost a tall as the main building itself. It's claws now gouged through the earth, every movement causing small tremors through the ground.

"Okay, so exactly what do we do about that?" Weiss asked as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

"I'm thinking!" Scarlett snapped. "I was going to take out the big sucker when he was asleep! I never thought of what to do if he woke up!"

"The White Fang were going to use you to wake him and you never thought of that?" Yang roared over the commotion.

"I was going to kill him the minute I found him!" Scarlett yelled back. "I just never thought I'd have you guys caught in the mess either!"

"Can we argue about who is at fault later?" Ruby screamed. "We have a very big problem right now!"

"Contact Ozpin!" Blake yelled. "He needs to know what's going on!"

"Well, we may still have a chance!" Scarlett said. "My blood was originally supposed to be used for him because it was the only thing that could give him his full strength! Since he was woken up by natural causes, he isn't as strong as he should!"

Glancing behind, Ruby looked at the Dark Ursa. True enough, it didn't seem to be at full strength. It still looked as if it's mind was half awake and the violet crystals on its body glowed faintly, not like the usual glow of Dust crystals, which were bright and piercing. Still, how were they fighting a Grimm that big?

"We need a crane for something like that!" Weiss said as it finally noticed them, giving chase.

"As much as I'd like to say size doesn't matter, Weiss is right." Yang said. "This isn't like the Nevermore we fought during initiation!"

Ruby thought back to their battle against the massive bird-like Grimm. Then, she had managed to slingshot herself into close quarters with the Grimm following with its decapitation.

"Maybe it is!" She yelled.

"How?" Weiss answered. "I'm sure you've noticed that this thing is titanic!"

"True." Ruby nodded. "But we've also got someone who it needs..." At this, she glanced to Scarlett. The dark haired girl stared back questioningly.

"If he needs Scarlett to go to full strength, then that is what we'll give him..."

Jaune Arc jumped in his seat. "What was that?" He said in a panicked tone.

"What was what?" Pyrrha frowned in her seat next to his. Currently, they were in Professor Oobleck's class. The red-haired girl knew he had enough problems with the good, albeit hyper-charged teacher. He couldn't afford to continuously get distracted in class once more.

"Call me nuts, but I think I heard a really big roar from somewhere..." Jaune frowned while he whispered to her, doing his best to concentrate on the lesson at the same time.

"Jaune, maybe your imagination is getting to you." Pyrrha smiled. "C'mon, we need to get these notes for team RWBY. Wonder where they vanished to?"

Jaune watched as Professor Oobleck glided over to Velvet to ask a question, to which the Faunus effortlessly replied. He concentrated on his note taking once more. Perhaps Pyrrha was right. He probably was imagining things.

Then it sounded once more, except more audibly than anything. Jaune instantly shot out of his seat, as did Velvet. Around him, many more students looked around, stunned by the sudden noise. He couldn't tell what it was with it sounding so faint, but he swore it was a roar.

"Okay, Is wear I'm not imagining things this time..." He said. "What was that? A roar?"

"What could be big enough to make a sound like that?" Pyrrha asked, apparently shocked by it as well.

Suddenly, the door opened and Professor Ozpin himself strode in. "All of you are to return to your dormitories. All classes for today are hereby suspended. Bartholomew, I need you, now..." Jaune studied the headmaster's face, catching a look of worry and urgency.

"I see." Professor Oobleck nodded. "Very well, you heard Professor Ozpin, dismissed, all of you!" With that, he took off once more, keeping in line with Ozpin.

"What is going on?" Pyrrha frowned as they left.

Jaune shook his head. "I don't know, but I can bet it isn't good."

The Dark Ursa charged, its eyes peeled for the five girls it had noticed. Rather, it had only interest in one of them, the one that smelled exactly like it. Her blood called to it, and it's blood to hers. The power the girl possessed, it rightfully belonged to him. He growled as he realized he had lost her. His belly ached, his body throbbed. It needed to be sated, now.

Slowly, it walked, it's sheer size making even the tallest trees appear like branches. Every stepped felled many in a single motion whilst causing the very ground to tremble. It glanced to the right as a Nevermore flew by, obviously startled by him. He could have fit the fully grown Grimm perfectly into his mouth, but right now, it was more interested in the girl.

He remembered the human miners that had come into his cave. Remembered them finding the purple crystals on his body and had pried of a small bit of it. He had registered pain. Subsequently, he roared, scaring them off, but they had taken a part of his strength with them. He hadn't been concerned about it though. However, now he felt weak and sluggish. He had slept too long. He needed it back. It was necessary to make him strong again.

Sniffing the air again, he caught her scent. He stared in the scent's direction, his eyes barely making out a bunch of ruins in the distance that stood on a cliff that overlooked a ravine. Growling, he made his way there, intent only upon sating his hunger.

_This is insane..._ Scarlett said to herself as she recounted Ruby's plan. If it was any consolation, Weiss had mentioned that almost every plan of Ruby's was practically questionable on many levels of sanity, though they did work out mostly because they were unpredictable to their enemies. Unfortunately, it was the unpredictable part that made Scarlett nervous

"I swear to God Ruby, you'd better be right about this..." Scarlett muttered under her breath, still fidgeting nervously. What the hell had happened to her siblings in the time she was away? Then again, she supposed such a question was unnecessary. She herself knew the answer. _Oh god..._ She berated herself silently as the thundering footsteps approached. _I swear, Ruby needs to have her head examined._

Then again, Ruby seemed confident in the plan. Perhaps it was because she had made crazy ideas like this before. Perhaps she was ridiculously lucky. Or perhaps it was because she believed.

Believed in Weiss, her partner, the first person Ruby had made a connection with upon stepping into Beacon. Believed in Blake, a Faunus girl who had connections with the White Fang in her previous years but now had rallied behind her to support her ideals. Believed in Yang, a boisterous and headstrong girl that never seemed to stop making her presence known.

And more than that, she believed in her oldest sister, the one who had taught her to be strong, to believe in the heart and soul of everyone she met. To Scarlett, it meant much more than anything. To not be hated, to be trusted, and to be forgiven.

The footsteps got closer. Scarlett looked up and saw the Dark Ursa staring at her from above the forest canopy.

"C'mon ugly!" Scarlett called out. "I'm right here!"

The beast roared in response.

Ruby could feel the earth shake with every step of the massive monster. Truth be told, she had no clue as to what kind of power birthed something like this, but whatever it was, it would certainly take a lot more to kill it.

She watched as it approached Scarlett, who was now standing on her own by the ruins that she herself had stood on during initiation when team RWBY battled with the Nevermore. She envisioned the same situation, with the only difference being the Grimm they were trying to kill was about a hundred times larger than the Nevermore.

It approached Scarlett warily. Ruby frowned. The thing was smart to say the least. She would have to factor that part in. Finally, it's colossal paw reached the edge of the cliff and it stopped. It studied the ravine for a second, definitely wondering if it could cross. With its large size, the entire ruin Scarlett stood on could have collapsed the minute it laid its gigantic limb down on it. Ruby fervently hoped it would.

Signaling to Weiss, she moved, the Schnee heiress following close behind. Weiss made a glyph that launched her into the air whilst Ruby used her speed to close in on one of the creature's hind legs.

Drawing Crescent Rose, Ruby gave a wicked slash right at the knee joint of the monster. At the same time, Weiss had launched a flame attack right at it, setting its fur alight.

The Ursa roared, an unbelievably loud groan as it shook. Whether or not it felt the pain however, was another question. Ruby and Weiss retreated as Blake and Yang went in. Blake fired Gambol Shroud, grabbing onto Yang at the same time she fired Ember Celica, propelling them both to the monster's back. Gambol Shroud served as an anchor point for the two girls, allowing Yang to land on the monster's back and give a punch backed with tremendous force.

The Ursa roared, annoyed at the commotion happening around it. It reared up on its hind legs as Yang and Blake leapt off.

"Scarlett! Now!" Ruby yelled. Scarlett's hands glowed with eerie red light, unleashing a shockwave that now propelled her lithe form toward the monstrous Ursa. Unsheathing her katana, she poured every bit of Aura she could muster into the blade and stabbed it within the lower jaw of the monster. Scarlett removed the blade from the monster's jaw, the sleek blade stained with blood. More blood gushed out of the monster's wound and Scarlett saw more blood gush out of its mouth, proof of its broken jaw.

She landed right on the ground beside team RWBY as the massive monster toppled over. It landed, completely still.

"That actually worked well enough..." Scarlett noted with a pleasant surprise.

"Told you." Ruby snickered.

"Still, I'm amazed it was that easy..." Weiss said upon looking at the unconscious colossus. "We are dealing with some sort of _legendary_ Grimm I suppose..."

"We only pulled it off thanks to Scarlett." Blake interjected. "If anything, her powers are the only thing able to even hurting this creature."

"So much for mister legend over here." Yang said with a smug look. "Hell, you weren't even that much of a fight!" At this, Yang kicked the cranium of the gigantic beast...

...which somehow served as a wake-up call for the creature.

Its eyes opened and they gleamed menacingly toward the girls.

"Oh crap..." Yang gulped.

"Yang..." Scarlett growled while stepping away.

"You idiot!" Weiss screeched as the monster roared. It rose up once more, striking the ground with its paw, the resulting shockwave knocking them all to the ground. It stared at the stunned group, raising its other paw to strike once more.

With little time to think, Scarlett raised her hands, firing a shockwave at full force at the paw, deflecting it and toppling the massive beast again, though it recovered quickly.

"Move it!" Scarlett yelled as the Grimm reared for another strike. The five of them moved as fast as they could, doing their hardest to avoid the massive Grimm's strikes.

"Okay, this is starting to look bad!" Ruby yelled. "It's way too big for us!"

Scarlett turned back to see the Grimm charging straight at full speed. She truly wondered what she would have to do to even stop this thing. The she remembered her mother's words.

_To save the ones you love ,you must do all you can._

Scarlett frowned. _All I can huh?_ Suddenly, it all became clear. Now she knew her place, her purpose.

"I may have an idea on how to take him out!" Scarlett yelled. "But to do that, I need to get airborne! Really airborne..."

"And how do we do that?" Weiss asked. "We can barely outrun him and I'm starting to get exhausted!"

As the Dark Ursa charged in, it stopped, looking upwards. Ruby turned, following its gaze to see a Bullhead flying in. She could now recognize the figure of Professor Ozpin in the cockpit. The Bullhead dived, its hatch opening. From within, Professor Oobleck beckoned the five girls to enter whilst Glynda fired barrages of energy at the Grimm.

"C'mon!" Ruby yelled, urging all of them into the aircraft. Once they were in, the aircraft took off, but not before the Grimm nearly struck it down with its paw.

"Hold on!" Glynda yelled as the aircraft spun. Ruby held on as tight as she could as Ozpin and Oobleck did their best to stabilize the aircraft.

"Professor Ozpin, sir." Professor Oobleck frowned as he held the controls. "I'm afriad he has punctured one of the fuel lines. We can still stay airborne, but only for a limited time!"

Ozpin nodded, turning to the rear compartment. "Scarlett Rose, good to see you again."

"Likewise sir." Scarlett nodded. "I'm sure you have plenty of questions, but they will need to wait. We need to take care of him first." She said, gesturing to the Dark Ursa.

"What do you need?" Ozpin asked.

"I need you to push him back as much as possible." Scarlett said. "And I need us to go higher."

Ozpin nodded. "Bartholomew, let's go."

Scarlett now turned to Ruby and Yang. "Fire at his head, as fast as possible. We have to push him backwards."

Yang punched her fists together. "You got it!" Ruby nodded in reply, moving over to the open hatch with her sister. Together, they pulled out their weapons, firing as fast as they could toward the giant monster. Even though the bullets were tiny compared to his size, he still had to face the onslaught that blinded him.

Glynda now came to the hatch, firing a barrage of purple projectiles at the monster. Blake had also drawn her pistol and had taken Scarlett's, firing a dual-wield salvo of bullets at the monster's head.

The Dark Ursa roared, the barrage of bullets taking its toll on him. He inched backwards, closer and closer to the edge of the cliff once more.

"Only half our fuel is left!" Professor Oobleck cried from the cockpit.

"Weiss!" Scarlett yelled. "Can you make a propelling glyph?"

"Sure." Weiss nodded before giving a confused look. "Where?"

"Just outside the aircraft." Scarlett gestured as she went to the door. Weiss nodded as she did, conjuring a glyph that Scarlett leapt on, holding her in place.

"Scarlett?" Ruby frowned.

"Ruby, do me a favor and take care of your friends." Scarlett said. "You're a big girl now after all, so time to act like it.

Ruby blinked in confusion. "Scarlett, what are you saying?"

"Yang..." Scarlett said as she turned to the blonde. "You are an annoying, loud and a big pain in the ass, but you are at least a lot mature now. So you better remember to take care of Ruby for me."

Yang turned, confused as well. "Wait, what are you saying?"

Scralett merely smiled, turning to everyone else. "All of you need to show the light within your own heart and soul. So show it to this dark world, as mom did for me. Remember, for what you love and believe in, fight with everything you've got."

Her hand suddenly glowed, brighter and redder than before. She thrust it out and instantly, a shockwave blasted her right at the monster whilst rocking the airship at the same time. Ruby nearly fell out had Yang not grabbed hold of her before clasping Blake's hand in the process. The Faunus strained to hold them all in.

Ruby turned to see Scarlett rush at the monster at blinding speed, her katana outstretched. The sleek blade now pierced right through the monster's skull, causing it to roar in pain. Scarlett drew her arm back, blasting another shockwave right through the impaled blade. The katana shot into the monster's brain and then right through the back of its skull.

The Dark Ursa flailed, losing its balance and toppled backwards towards the ravine. Scarlett turned to look back at the Bullhead, where she could make out the shocked expression on Yang's face and Ruby's mouth, opened in some kind of soundless scream. Scarlett could already make out what she was saying.

_SCARLETT!_

Scarlett now felt the monstrous Grimm topple backwards into the ravine, taking her with it.

"Stop!" Ruby cried out, tears gathering in her eyes. "We have to go back for her!"

"We can't Ruby." Ozpin said. "This aircraft is running out of fuel! We can't afford to search for her."

"But!" Ruby began before Yang stopped her. Yang also had tears in her own eyes, but she did her utmost to keep them in.

"We just found each other again..." Ruby sobbed. "I can't lose her again..."

"Scarlett fought for all of you." Ozpin said. "She followed her heart and soul and her beliefs. Honor her and the decision she made."

Weiss and Blake crouched beside the two sisters, hugging them both as Yang drew Ruby into a tighter embrace. Ruby merely shook with sobs as they left the battlefield and Scarlett behind.


	11. hearts and souls

Weeks had passed since their battle with the Dark Ursa. Other than team JNPR, Ruby had resolved to keep the existence of that monster and her older sister in the shadows. She didn't want to talk anymore about another family member they had now lost.

Yang had recently spoken with their father, telling him everything about Scarlett's deeds and sacrifices, making him promise that Scarlett would forever be honored back at home. Weiss and Blake merely stood by, ready to lend a hand to the two sisters.

Ruby would sometimes burst into tears, unable to control the emotions that swirled through her body. Happiness that her sister was innocent, sadness that now she was gone and could never hope to re-kindle their lost years and self-loathing, that she had always doubted Scarlett and never once tried to find out the truth.

Yang herself was more stoic than Ruby, but even Weiss and Blake had kept silent about the times Yang had cried herself to sleep. They didn't want to pry, and for good reason. After all, Yang was the one who harbored more hate than anyone for Scarlett. That she was innocent, that Yang had never thought to trust her and now, that it was impossible for Yang to apologize resulted in emotional breakdowns that occurred only in their dormitory.

A dreadful air hung around the two sisters everywhere they went. Even in class, they sat next to each other, as if drinking in one another's gloom. They didn't show the rowdiness that they were so famous for in their time at Beacon and kept a silent air around themselves. Weiss and Blake stared at each other, unsure of how they could help or whether they would eventually recover.

"Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long?" Came a voice at the back of the cafeteria. Weiss and Blake turned to see a delivery-man holding a large box in his hands. Weiss came over to him. "I'll get this to them." She said, taking the box. She strode over to the two sisters, placing the box down before them on the table.

"What's this?" Ruby asked with no apparent emotion.

Weiss shrugged. "No clue. But it was addressed to you. I guess you guys should open it."

Yang and Ruby stared at one another before moving to open the box. The minute they did so, they gasped in surprise.

"What?" Weiss asked after noticing their reactions. "What is it?"

Weiss and Blake now looked at the contents of the box. Within was a huge bouquet of roses, some red, some yellow, some pink. Tied to the ribbon that held them together was a small note that simply read: _'For Mom'_

"Isn't that..." Ruby stared, dumbfounded.

"Scarlett's handwriting?" Yang concluded, her eyes finally lighting up. Weiss and Blake stared at each other incredulously. Digging through the box, they found something else. Four small pendants were found, each one beautifully crafted in colors of red, white, black and yellow respectively. In the middle of each pendant was a small purple crystal.

"No way..." Blake said as she held up the black pendant. Turning over the pendant, Blake's eyes caught the faintly written words.

_Hearts and Souls, _was all they said.

Ruby looked at the red one, handing the white and yellow ones to Weiss and Yang respectively. "Could this really be?" She asked, turning to Yang.

Yang didn't answer. She merely turned to Ruby and smiled, nodding her head. Ruby fingered the pendant she held, her mind flashing back to an old memory. She was only five years old then as she sat on the chair, watching Scarlett carve something out of wood. When she inched in for a closer look, Scarlett turned and Ruby saw it was a strange oval shaped object made out of wood. The pendant she held was of a similar shape and design.

"What now?" Ruby wondered. "Should we tell dad?"

"We should." Yang nodded. "But first things first..."

**Hours later:**

Yang and Ruby approached the small stone slab that sat upon the snowy cliff. Gingerly, Ruby placed the flowers down.

"We did it mom." Ruby nodded. "All of us did."

Yang nodded. "So don't worry about us. We're doing just fine."

Yang and Ruby stared for a while as the wind blew, softly though still cold.

"C'mon sis." Yang said. "Let's go back."

"Right." Ruby nodded, following her older sister.

Somewhere, deep in the trees, a figure stood, her dark hair flowing wildly with the wind. She glanced as Ruby and Yang left before she turned to the stone slab. Bowing slightly, she gave one last look at the two girls before she grinned and jumped away.


End file.
